Youth File Complaint Against NC Public High Schools

A February civil rights complaint accuses two North Carolina school districts of denying, delaying or discouraging school enrollment based on immigration status. The districts’ actions are symptomatic of a statewide problem, a coalition of civil rights groups including the SPLC say.

The complaint describes discrimination faced by a Guatemalan and a 17-year-old Honduran immigrant, twice denied enrollment, allegedly because she was too old.

As of last week, according to a statement reported by the Duke Chronicle, one of the school boards had not yet heard from the DOJ or SPLC-and-company regarding the complaint.

North Carolina law, according to the SPLC, says all students under 21 are entitled to a public education in the school district in which they live.